Bucket list update

Back in November I posted my Bucket List. Of course, I'm not dying of anything terminal, other than Life itself, but since "they" are saying the world is going to end in 2012, I didn't want to miss the chance to make a bucket list. So I made one, and thought today would be a good day to update you on how I'm doing on said list. So I'll reprint the list, with new updates in red:

Steve's Bucket List:

1} Finish writing my novel and get it published. This is a long-time goal, and now the end of the world is just giving me motivation to work faster. Have not worked on my writing yet this year...I will again soon...I hope.

2}Take a guitar lesson from Orianthi. She is the amazing guitarist from the Michael Jackson THIS IS IT movie, and to just spend an hour learning from her would be amazing. I've messaged her a few times on Twitter, and she even follows me there, but has not responded to me yet.

3} Spend a month traveling in England and Ireland. I figure it would take at least a month to find all the historical, but not touristy spots. Waiting for financing...

4} Star in, or direct a movie with Zooey Deshanel. Maybe my friend Beau could produce it. She is one of my favorite actresses, and I'd love to work with her. Talks are currently delayed by me having no way to contact Zooey, might have to see if Beau could get me in touch.

5} Spend a day at the park with just my kids and my parents. Sounds easy enough, but if you understood my family situation, you'd know this is probably the wildest thing on my list. No progress to report here.

6} Write a song with Taylor Swift. I'd let her sing it, since my voice would make people pray for the end of the world. plus with her singing it would be a sure hit. Taylor is currently hard at work recording album 3 and preparing for this years tour, and has not responded to my tweets.

7} Get together and hang out for at least part of a day catching up with as many of my Facebook friends as I can. Since my Toyota friends I can see any time, I won't count those, sorry. This is where I can report the most progress: In October I hooked up with my friend Beau who I hadn"t seen since college, we hung out before the U2 concert. This month I have has lunch with my friends Adam, and John, both from my KLoRD days who I hadn't seen in 14 or 15 years. Very good time catching up on all accounts. Looking forward to more meetings soon.

Me and Beau


Adam


John

8} Have lunch or dinner with Ashley Greene (from Twilight). Her character is so sweet, and from what I hear, she is too. Once again, waiting on responses on Twitter...keeping fingers crossed.

9} Spend a month on tour with U2. Maybe get invited up onstage by Bono. So far no luck contacting the band, may have to sneak in backstage when they come to Anahiem this spring.

10} Take a dance lesson from one of my favorite Dancing with the Stars pros, either Lacey Schwimmer, Chelsie Hightower, or Julianne Hough. So far Lacey is looking like the best bet since her dad has a studio in Redlands. I actually met her this week. I would show you a picture to prove it, but I forgot to hit save...dummy dummy!

OOPS I have a #11 too} To see a sunrise and sunset on every continent. Well, could probably skip Antarctica. Still stuck on North America...as with England trip, waiting on financing...Come on lotto!!!

Farewell to CDs

I know this may seem premature, but I am here to bid farewell to the Compact Disc. I grew up listening to LPs, those 12 inch round discs with grooves on each side that played music when touched with a diamond (or sapphire) needle. As I was growing up there was a brief coo in the status quo when the eight track tape showed up, but this wen away quickly, and the LP still reigned. As I was in high school a lot of people switched to cassette tapes. For the most part I held out, other than making taped copies of my records to play in my car. When I got to college some of my friends were switching to the perfect sound quality and indestructible composition of the Compact Disc. At the time the players were quite pricey, so I resisted technology.

As my college graduation approached, I found out my parents were planning on getting me a CD player, and I began buying CDs. My first was Michael W. Smith's The Big Picture followed by Vangelis' Chariots of Fire Soundtrack. I would listen on the CD players in the college library while I studied. The sound was so pure, so crisp and full. I knew music would never be the same. It had finally reached its full potential.

But as the CD aged it did not do so gracefully. The wonderfully built SONY player that I got for graduation lasted over 10 years before giving out. This kind of quality was replaced by $29 throw-aways from Walmart that may last a year if you're lucky. The booming sounds and subtle nuances of of the early CDs gave way to a barrage of mediocre music that in no way put the superior sound quality of CDs to the test (of course the blame for this lies not in the media, but in the music makers).

Then we were blessed with the internet, and mp3 files and pirated music. I knew CDs had nothing to fear, because the slow down load time and poor quality of these files. Music purists would never go for that. But then Apple invented this iPod and sound quality and storage size kept getting better. Now even my mom has an iPod (and I still don't and I'm dang envious). And so as the digital music age emerges we bid farewell to the CD. And in doing this I want to share a few things that tick me off about CDs before they go.

First of all I have always hated te CD for ruining album cover art. The 12 inch square that held an LP was the perfect canvas for amazing works of art (think Sgt Pepper's, or Kansas' Point of Know Return)

But the 5 inch size of a CD jewel box has stunted the art of album covers and reduced must covers to just a photo of the artist or band.

Another thing that bothers me about CD's especially in recent years is the compulsion to release several versions of the same CD. The way this works is an artist will release there CD with 10-13 songs. Fans will buy spend their hard earned money to rush out and buy the disc. Six to twelve months later the artist suddenly decides there were 5 or 6 more songs that should have been on that CD. So instead of giving us a new CD, they release a special deluxe edition with all the original cuts, plus a few new ones, tack an extra $3 on the price and resell to the same fans who of course must buy it to support their favorite artist. No wonder so many people just pirate music on line.

And along with the annoying special editions we have the "bonus tracks" and "Hidden tracks". Bonus tracks usually come when an older album is rereleased to CD, and some record executive decides instead of the classic "Dark Side of the Moon" you want a bunch of songs the band threw out when the released the classic, so they give you "Both Sides of the Moon" (note, so far this has NOT happened to the Pink Floyd classic, but it has to many other greats). I do not need alternate mixes or live versions tacked on to the front back or middle of a classic album. If you have extra songs, just save up enough to make a whole CD of extras. And most annoying are "hidden tracks" This is when some silly track or studio outtake is put on the end of a CD after 3 or more minutes of silence. This is supposed to be a nice surprise for listeners, but to me, I don"t want the silence. If I'm listening in my car and it goes to silence, I think something is wrong and I need to fix it. I probably have 20 or more CDs with "Hidden tracks" I've never heard because I just skip to the next track. I swear when I get an iPod I will not put any silence in, and will hide NO tracks.

Good bye CDs we'll miss you, go join theLP the cassette and the 8track in the music graveyard. NOW SOMEONE PLEASE GIVE ME AN iPOD!!!

New Year's Resolutions

OK, I know I'm a day late (and probably at least a dollar short), but here is a semi-complete list of the resolutions I am making (and of course will never succeed in keeping) for 2010.:

1) Blog more... if for no other reason than to keep the brain functioning.

2) spend a minimum of two hours a week working on my writitng, even if I'm experiencing major writer's block (which I am).

3) Spend time trying to actually communicate with the friends I have on facebook, rather than just sending them gifts on Mafia Wars.

4) Drink less soda...I don't need the caffiene, and I hear it helps you lose weight.

5) Focus more on work while at work, and more on play during my leisure time.

6) Read more. In detail to finish the book I am currently reading (which I got for Christmas 2008) along with the 4 books I got for Christmas 2009, and also the new book Princess of Landover, which I don't have yet.

7) Be more attentive to my wife's needs. (Her real needs, not just what she asks for).

8) Get closer to God.

There's probably more, but that's all I can come up with for now. (and 8 is enough)... oh wait...

9) Lose weight of course.